Fisheries committee  Well, making something anew or restored is always more expensive than allowing nature to bring things in. If we allow the streams and rivers to function on their own, they'll bring in their own wood and their own gravel, rather than you and I having to hump it in on a four-by-four.

Fisheries committee  Thank you, Ms. May. That's a fabulous question. I hold the insurance policy for these groups. One thing I was concerned about was people going out into waters that may have been a little over their boot-tops. I had some concerns about that. I was quite pleased to see that some of the rescue attempts were organized by people who knew what they were doing.

Fisheries committee  Good morning, Mr. Chair and honourable members of the fisheries standing committee. My name is ZoAnn Morten and I work for the Pacific Streamkeepers Federation, through which I'm lucky enough to work with thousands of streams and streamkeepers across B.C. We are here today to speak to some of the risks of flood control, and at top of mind is that we risk forgetting that flooding is part of the natural process.

Fisheries committee  Yes, we've had lots of moments, but this is the time.

Fisheries committee  I think if we could get the provincial and federal governments working together with first nations to that common goal, it will go a long way. I was on the agriculture committee meetings the other day, though, where there was talk about land-based aquaculture, and the fellows were saying we need a pipe to bring the salt water in and then we need a pipe to take the effluent out and put in the salt water.

Fisheries committee  It's my husband's side.

Fisheries committee  I can't imagine that we would allow sewage into our wild spaces, but it happens every day. In North Vancouver our sewage treatment plant was going to change from tertiary and go upwards. It was one of our local streamkeepers who led the charge on getting a substantial increase in the amount of debris that would be taken out of the water before it entered our wild spaces.

Fisheries committee  We have that combination of the marine environment as well as the freshwater. Freshwater we can deal with a little bit more. I do know that this year the water levels in the Shuswap were so high I was unable to do any training. We have high water, which has not been the case in the past.

Fisheries committee  We could talk about the death by a thousand cuts when we talk about the death of salmon. It's not just one thing. It could be human predation or bears or eagles or lots of others that have a right to those salmon as well. I've seen a lot of studies, but I haven't seen a study that has that comprehensive look as to which industry or which place kills the most salmon, whether it's one spill at a time like the Mount Polley mine, dewatering of streams, or flooding in the Kamloops area.

Fisheries committee  There are little bits of studies here and there, but I've never seen a complete one. However, if we look at just the Mount Polley mine by itself and how many died in that one incident, a lot of eagles would have to eat to make up the same amount.

Fisheries committee  I would agree that we should look at the Cohen commission again, and not just say, “Working on this,” but actually say how we're working on it. I remember my first day on the fisheries renewal board of directors, coming in and Joy Thorkelson asking, “How come the only salmon that we talk about as being removed from the system are the adults?”

Fisheries committee  Years ago, DFO used to have consultative processes for the community at large, and anyone could attend. I can't even think of the last time they had that consultative process. However, the last time they did, the facilitators wrote down the answers without listening to the people who were speaking.

Fisheries committee  Well, in Maple Ridge, you have people wanting to build in the flood plain, so that might be part of it. We have riparian area regulations, but the ombudsperson said they were not working, and that was the end of it. We just got the report that it was not working, but nobody looked to try to make them actually work.

Fisheries committee  My last name is Morten. I think you might be thinking of Alexandra Morton.

Fisheries committee  No.